Which IT Certifications Pay the Most?

Given budget cuts and salary and hiring freezes throughout government, federal IT workers may be interested to learn how to position themselves for better pay and promotions in the future. One thing they can do is obtain a new IT certification.

So what are the top-paying certifications for IT workers? According to a new white paper by TechRepublic, there are three certifications that command six-figure salaries on average: the Project Management Professional certification ($111,209), the Certified Information Systems Security Professional ($110,342), and the Cisco Certified Design Associate ($101,915).

Other top-paying certifications included the ITIL v3 Foundation ($97,691), the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer ($91,650), Cisco Certified Network Professional ($90,457), CompTIA Server+ ($84,997), Microsoft Certified IT Professional ($84,330), the Cisco Certified Network Associate ($82,923), the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator ($82,923) and CompTIA Security+ ($80,066).

TechRepublic noted that there are other certifications that may pay more but are not represented because they are more exclusive and therefore didn't meet the 200-response standard necessary to accurately calculate average salaries. Those certifications included the Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert and the VMware Certified Design Expert.

“Having a certification does not mean you will walk into one of these higher paying jobs. It is certification and experience that will count,” the report states. “There was a time when, if you had a certification, you were reasonably assured of getting a job. Now it is more of a disqualifier – not having a certification means you may not even get an interview.”

How do your certifications and federal salary stack up? Could your federal career benefit from obtaining a new certification?